The present invention relates to game apparatus and more particularly to a Bingo type game which is used in connection with a mass distribution videocassette publication.
Bingo is a traditional game of chance in which players play markers on a game board. The game board consists of a patterned array of playing areas which are typically squares with numbers within them. The traditional game board is square and has twenty five playing areas arranged in five rows and five columns. Above the top row there is placed the word Bingo with a column under each letter of the word. In play, a caller selects at random, a gaming indicia, and announces the indicia. The gaming indicia are usually numbered balls selected by random removal from a container. The caller announces the number and the players scan their game cards for that number. If the player's card has the number, the player covers the appropriate square with a token. The gaming procedure continues until a player has filled all squares on a row, column, or diagonal of the game board. This player announces that he has "Bingo" and the game is over. The popularity of the game has not been diminished by the passage of time and many improvements have been proposed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,454 has taught the distribution of the game board through the use of a mass distribution publication. In this variant of the Bingo game, the player matches cents-off promotional coupons provided in the publication with the cents-off discounts present on the game card.
The traditional game has also been transported into different gaming media. U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,811 teaches a video game variant of the Bingo game. In this electronic version of the game, the player selects a game card from a plurality of cards presented to him on the video screen. Play begins with a random collection of numbers displayed to the player. The player actuates a switch to select a set of numbers which may be manipulated to form a Bingo combination.